NORMAN, Okla. — Twelfth-ranked South Dakota State won the final three matches to get past No. 23 Oklahoma, 20-13, in a back-and-forth Big 12 Conference wrestling dual Friday night at McCasland Field House.
The victory was the ninth in a row for the Jackrabbits, who improved to 12-2 overall and remained unbeaten against conference opponents at 6-0. Oklahoma dropped to 5-6 overall and 2-5 in the Big 12.
Trailing 13-11 through seven matches, the Jackrabbits gained the lead for good with an 8-5 decision by fourth-ranked Cade DeVos over Tate Picklo in the 174-pound matchup. The match was scoreless through one period before DeVos opened a 4-0 lead with an escape and takedown early in the second stanza. Picklo would come back to tie the match on a couple occasions before DeVos came up with the decisive takedown midway through the third period.
Ninth-ranked Bennett Berge followed with a 7-2 decision over Giuseppe Hoose to give the Jackrabbits a 17-13 lead with one bout to go.
The final matchup of the night pitted a pair of top-five 197-pounders as fifth-ranked Tanner Sloan of SDSU met second-ranked Stephen Buchanan. Sloan was awarded a takedown in the closing seconds of the first period and increased his advantage to 4-0 with an escape early in the second period. Buchanan got on the board with an escape about 40 seconds into the third stanza, but Sloan secured a 4-1 victory and the sealed the dual win by fending off a Buchanan takedown attempt on the edge in the final seconds of the match.
Sloan’s victory was his 11th in a row as he improved to 16-1 on the season.
Oklahoma picked up a bonus point in the first match of the night as the Sooners’ 12th-ranked heavyweight, Josh Heindselman, scored a 14-6 major decision over SDSU redshirt freshman Luke Rasmussen.
Tanner Jordan, ranked 13th at 125 pounds, became the first SDSU wrestler to reach the 20-win mark this season with a 4-0 decision over No. 33 Conrad Hendriksen. Jordan picked up a takedown in the second period and added an escape in the third and final stanza to improve to 20-5 overall.
Clay Carlson turned in the Jackrabbits’ lone bonus-point victory of the night as he made quick work of Carter Schmidt in their 141-pound bout. Carlson took Schmidt down early in the match and put together a series of turns for near-falls to end the match at the first-period horn by technical fall, 15-0, giving SDSU its first lead of the night at 8-7.
The Sooners picked up a pair of upset victories in the first half of the dual with Jace Koelzer handing 16th-ranked Derrick Cardinal a 2-0 decision in the 133-pound matchup and No. 30 Willie McDougald downing 18th-ranked Alek Martin, 4-1, at 149 pounds. McDougald scored the line takedown of the match with about 10 seconds remaining in regulation to put OU back out front, 10-8.
The lead would change a couple more times as the teams alternated victories at 157 and 165 pounds. Cael Swensen notched a takedown late in overtime for a 4-1 sudden victory over Jared Hill in a battle between ranked wrestlers at 157 pounds, while the Sooners’ Gerrit Nijenhuis tallied a 7-4 decision over Connor Gaynor in a matchup between backup wrestlers.
UP NEXT
The Jackrabbits close out the weekend by traveling to second-ranked Oklahoma State Saturday night. Action is slated for a 6 p.m. start at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Oklahoma, with video coverage available through ESPN+.
#12 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 20, #23 OKLAHOMA 13
285: #12 Josh Heindselman (OU) major dec. Luke Rasmussen (SDSU), 14-6
125: #13 Tanner Jordan (SDSU) dec. #33 Conrad Hendriksen (OU), 5-0
133: Jace Koelzer (OU) dec. #16 Derrick Cardinal (SDSU), 2-0
141: #22 Clay Carlson (SDSU) tech. fall Carter Schmidt (OU), 15-0 [3:00]
149: #30 Willie McDougald (OU) dec. #18 Alek Martin (SDSU), 4-1
157: #16 Cael Swensen (SDSU) dec. #30 Jared Hill (OU), 4-1 [SV-1]
165: Gerrit Nijenhuis (OU) dec. Connor Gaynor (SDSU), 7-4
174: #4 Cade DeVos (SDSU) dec. Tate Picklo (OU), 8-5
184: #8 Bennett Berge (SDSU) dec. Giuseppe Hoose (OU), 7-2
197: #5 Tanner Sloan (SDSU) dec. #2 Stephen Buchanan (OU), 4-1
NOTES
- SDSU ended a three-match losing streak to the Sooners
- Oklahoma leads the all-time series, 6-4, which dates back to the 1969-70 season
- Five of the 10 matches were scoreless after one period
- Carlson took over sole possession of eighth place on the SDSU career wins list with 110, breaking a tie with Chad Wickman (109 victories from 1996-99)
- Sloan moved into a tie with Tyler Jones (102 victories from 1999-2003) for 13th place in career victories for the Jackrabbits
- Sloan won his 36th consecutive dual match dating back to early in the 2021-22 season and improved to 60-4 in career duals
- Berge and Swensen each extended their personal winning streaks to nine, while DeVos won for the eighth consecutive time
- DeVos improved to 17-1 this season
-GoJacks.com-